Nicole Richie and Joel Madden are reportedly planning to marry before Nicole’s baby bump begins to show too much - and before the mum-to-be spends her four days in jail at the end of next month.

Nicole, who confirmed her much rumoured pregnancy earlier this week, was sentenced to four days in jail by a court in Los Angeles last week, following her DUI arrest in December. She has to surrender to authorities at some point over the next two months.

According to Star magazine though, she’ll marry Joel before she goes to the big house. A source told the publication: “Joel said to Nicole, ‘Let’s get married before you go to jail.’”

“She was so happy. He’s doing this so she feels secure behind bars. The last thing he wants is for her to worry about where they’re at while she’s in jail.”

“Nicole wants to get married first, and then serve her time but she’s way too stressed about jail to plan the wedding, so she’s hiring a wedding planner to coordinate the details.”

The source added that Joel was initially reluctant to marry Nicole after finding out she was pregnant earlier in the summer: “He really hadn’t had time to process it all. The prospect of becoming a father was a pretty heavy hammer on him.”

“But seeing how scared Nicole was about going to court brought out his protective streak. Hew wanted to give her something to hang onto. There are a lot of times I thought he would throw in the towel with her, but the truth is, he really does love her.”

The couple are expected to marry at either Joel’s home in Glendale, California or at Nicole’s dad Lionel Richie’s house in Bel-Air.

According to the source, Lionel fully approves of the wedding plans: “Nicole told Lionel of her plans and he’s over the moon about them. It’s what he has wanted all along. He really wants Nicole to find some meaning in her life, and hopefully marriage and a baby will provide just that.”